Electric cigarette lighter



United States Patent O 3,i61,'754 ELECRHC QllGARETTE MGiil'iEi'l Laurence G. Horwitt, New Haven, Conn., assigner' to The Casco Products (Corporation, Bridgeport, Sonn., a corporation ot Connecticut Filed Apr. i7, i962, @ein No. 1%,027 3 Claims. (Cl. 2i9-27tl) The present invention relates to electric cigarette lighters such as are usually used in automobiles and more particularly to the type having a manually removable igniting plug having an igniting coil that is electrically heated in a socket and removable therefrom for use to ignite the tobacco on the end of a cigar or cigarette or in a pipe.

The igniting plug has at one end a cup in which the igniting coil is lixed in exposed position to be used when the plug is removed from the socket. The other end of the plug has an insulating disk having a threaded hole to receive a threaded stud of an operating knob. The insulating disk and the cup are tlxed together but axially spaced by a rigid tubular member and attached at one end to the disk and at the other end to a ceramic block on which the coil-containing cup is mounted.

The igniting coil is in the form of a spiral, the outer turn of which is welded to the retaining cup which acts as a current conducting contact, while the inner turn is welded to a rivet which secures the cup and a ceramic block together. The rivet conducts current to the inner end of the coil. The coil is brought into contact with the tobacco after having become incandescent and removed from the socket by the plug.

It the parts of the coil contacting the tobacco are not hot enough to Sear the tobacco, the particles thereof, particularly the shreds of tobacco on a cigarette or in a pipe, are merely heated and tackiiied so that they cling to the igniting coil and are pulled away from the rest of the tobacco when the coil is removed from the ignited cigarette or pipe. These detached particles frequently, while yet ignited, fall away from the initer and onto the clothing of the user, or elsewhere, frequently resulting in damage thereto and causing serious concern to the user which may be dangerous it the lighter is being used by a person driving an automobile.

An object of this invention is to provide an igniter unit in which the danger of improperly igniting tobacco of a cigar, cigarette or pipe is substantially reduced, and to this end provision is made for avoiding contact of the smokers article with a part of the igniting coil which unavoidable does not become as hot as the other parts, or cools faster. f

Stated more specically, the present invention provides for moving the igniter coil proper substantially beyond the plane of the current conducting rivet and the inner end of the spiral coil which is secured to the rivet so that these parts which are slower to heat than the remainder of the igniter are not contacted by the particles of tobacco from a cigarette or pipe, for instance, in applying the incandescent coil thereto.

Other features and advantages will hereinafter appear.

In the drawing:

FIGURE 1 is a View, partly in section, of an electric cigar lighter with the plug being shown in its stored position in its socket.

FIG. 2 is a section taken axially through a portion of the plug.

FIG. 3 is a sectional View of the cup looking in the direction of the arrows 3 3 in FIG. 2, the major portion of the igniting coil being shown in broken lines.

Referring to the drawing, the electric cigarette lighter of the present invention generally indicated by the reference numeral l@ includes a removable igniting plug lil 3,161,754 Patented Dec. l5, 1964 shown in PEG. l mounted in a socket 12, the latter being provided wi th a clamping sleeve i3 for clamping the socket in an aperture i4 formed in a wall l5 such as an automobile dashboard. The socket is provided with bimetallic :fingers lle which, in a manner well known in the art, conduct electricity to the plug when in engagement thereto to heat the igniting coil and release the plug after the coil has reached a predetermined tobacco-igniting temperature.

As shown in FG. 2, there is provided on the end of the plug a spirally wound igniting coil i7 positioned within a current conducting cup 18 adapted to be brought into engagement with the contact ngers llo, to energize the coil. lin insulating mica disk i9 is supported on the outer surface or" the bottom of the cup. The cup is provided with an axial aperture Ztl through which the shank of a rivet 2i passes, the rivet having a slot 22 in which is secured by welding, the inner end 23 of the igniting coil i7, the other end 24, being welded against the inner surface ot the flange of the cup. Abutting the bottom 25 of the cup is a ceramic block 26 having the diametric section shown and also having an axial hole 27 through which the shank of the rivet 2i passes.

The bottom 25 of the cup iS abuts the adjacent radial face 2S of the block while another radial face 29 of the block abuts a recessed radial ilange Btl formed by bending the end portion of a rigid metallic elongate tubular member 3l. The rivet 2i is headed over as at 32 and secures the cup, the mica disk, the block and flange 3@ together. To axially align the parts, the head 33 of the rivet is conical and ts in a conical portion ot the bottom 25 of the cup which in turn ts in a conical cavity leading to the hole 27 in the block Z6, the mica disk i9 being drawn down to nt the bottom ot the cup when the rivet is secured in place.

The tubular member 3l is secured by suitable means to a knob 33 by which the plug is manipulated.

The igniting plug also includes a pair of sleeves, portions of which are shown in FIG. 2, which encircles the plug and consists of an inner sleeve 34 and an outer sleeve 35 forming an ash guard, the latter being axially movable with respect to the former. A spring 36 encircles the tubular member Sil and serves to normally retain the plug in the socket in the open-circuit position shown in FIG. 1, in a manner well known in the art.

Heretofore in cigarette lighters of the type shown, it was the practice to have the outer edegs of the turns of the spiral coil l? and the rivet 20 located in a common plane with the result that the end of the cigarette applied to the central portion ot the coil (as is natural) would engage the outer edge surfaces of the rivet and the first turn ot the coil as well as other parts ofthe coil.

Theoretically, the cigarette should be properly ignited, when so placed, if the coil has been brought to the proper temperature, and usually this occurs. However, the user is sometimes slow in removing the igniter from the socket and applying it to the cigarette, thus allowing the coil to cool ott somewhat. Under some such conditions, it has been found that while the major portions of the coil are hot enough to ignite the tobacco suiiiciently so that the particles do not stick thereto, the center of the igniter has cooled oil to such a degree that the particles of tobacco engaged thereby are merely toasted or tackified so that they cling to the coil and are pulled out of the cigarette, for instance, when the igniter plug is removed from the end of the cigarette. Such partially ignited particles frequently drop oit the igniter and sometimes cause damage to the users clothing with the danger of burning or otherwise injuring the user.

To obviate this diliiculty, the present invention provides for avoiding contact of the end of the rivet 20 and the part of the coil adjacent thereto with the tobacco in a pipe or cigarette, for instance, and this is done by interposing a spacer 37 between the inner edges 3? of the igniting coil 17 and the bottom 25 of the retaining cup 1d so as to raise the outer surfaces of the major portion of the igniting coil above the plane of the rivet 21 as shown in FIG. 2. The spacer 37 has a central hole 39 so that the rivet 21 may be in its usual position with its bevelled head 40 engaging the mica washer 19 over the tapered entrance hole 2i) in the cup. The inner portion 22 of the coil being welded as usual to the outer portion of the rivet is also spaced beyond the plane of the outer edges of the major portion of the coil.

Thus the inner portion of the coil and the rivet, both of which are heat conducting and cool most rapidly, are kept out of Contact with the tobacco whether the cigarette is applied to the center of the coil as shown in FTG. 2 -in dot and dash lines, or to one side thereof, as shown in dotted lines in PIG. 2.

The spacer 37 may be of ceramic material having poor heat conductivity, but good heat reliectivity, so that it not only does not tend to absorb heat from the coil, but also reflects heat back to the coil. The spacer 37 is preferably provided with equispaced ribs 41, three ribs triangular in cross-section being shown, for engaging the inner edges of the coil 17 and holding the turns, for the most part, out of heat conducting relation with the body of the spacer 37. To accommodate the spacer 37 without disturbing the normal relationship between the periphery 42 of the cup 18 and the Contact fingers 16, the circumferential wall of the cup has a portion 43 increasing its length and the insulatingblock 26 is made shorter than heretofore.

Variations and modications may be made within the scope of the claims and portions of the improvements may be used without others.

I claim:

1. An igniting plug for an electric cigar lighter adapted to be energized in a socket and removed therefrom for use comprising a shallow cup xed on one end portion of said plug and having a current conducting flange, an igniting device comprising a substantially Hat coil of spirally wound resistance wire positioned in said cup with the outer edges of the convolutions of the coil exposed for engagement with a cigar or cigarette, said coil having an outer end secured to the inner surface of the ange of the cup, a post located centrally in said cup and having an outer end secured to the inner end of the resistance wire and adapted to conduct current therebetween, and a disk having an aperture into which said post extends interposed between the bottom of the cup and the inner edges of the convolutions of the resistance wire to engage f and support the coil flatwise, said disk having suiiicient thickness to position the outer edges of substantially all of the spiral coil convolutions outwardly from and in a plane substantially spaced from the outer end of the post to which the inner end of the resistance wire is secured, whereby the outer end of the post and the inner end of outer edges.

2. An igniting plug for an electric cigar lighter adapted to be energized in a socket and removed therefrom for use comprising a shallow cup fixed on one end portion of said plug and having a current conducting ange, an igniting device comprising a substantially flat coil of spirally wound resistance wire positioned in said cup with the outer edges of the convolutions of the coil exposed for engagement with a cigar or cigarette, said coil having an outer end secured to the inner surface of the flange of the cup, a post located centrally in said cup and having an outer end secured to the inner end of the resistance wire and adapted to conduct current therebetween, and a spacer disk having an aperture into which said post extends of low heat conductivity material interposed between the bottom of the cup and the inner edges of tre resistance wire for engaging the inner edges of substantially all of the convolutions of the spiral coil to support the coil liatwise, said spacer having sucient thickness to position substantially all of the outer edges of convolutions outwardly from and in a plane substantially spaced from the outer end of the post to which the inner end of the resistance wire is secured thereto, whereby the outer end of the post and the inner end of the coil are recessed substantially below the plane of the outer edges.

3. An igniting plug for an electric cigar lighter adapted to be energized in a socket and removed therefrom for use comprising a shallow cup fixed on one end portion of said plug and having a current conducting ilange, an igniting device comprising a substantially at coil of spirally wound resistance wire positioned in Said cup with the outer edges of the convolutions of the coil exposed for engagement with a cigar or cigarette, said coil having an outer end secured to the inner surface of the ange of the cup, a post located centrally in said cup `and secured to the inner end of the resistance wire and adapted to conduct current to the latter, and a spacer disk having an aperture through which said post extends of low heat and conductivity material interposed between the bottom of the cup and the inner edges of the resistance wire for engaging the inner surfaces of the major portion of the spiral coil and supporting the coil ilatwise, said spacer having a plurality of equispaced radial ribs of substantially triangular cross-section on which the inner surfaces of the major portion of the spiral coil rests to position the outer edges of said major portion outwardly from and in a plane substantially spaced from the plane of the outer end of the post and the inner end of the resistance wire secured thereto.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNTTED STATES PATENTS 2,694,134 Youhouse Nov. 9, 1954 2,778,915 Jorgensen Jan. 22, 1957 2,784,290 Ashton Mar. 5, 1957 2,932,717 Beattie Apr. 12, 41960 3,012,127 Crumb Dec. 5, 1961 3,040,160 Gaudet et al lune 19, 1962 

1. AN IGNITING PLUG FOR AN ELECTRIC CIGAR LIGHTER ADAPTED TO BE ENERGIZED IN A SOCKET AND REMOVED THEREFROM FOR USE COMPRISING A SHALLOW CUP FIXED ON ONE END PORTION OF SAID PLUG AND HAVING A CURRENT CONDUCTING FLANGE, AN IGNITING DEVICE COMPRISING A SUBSTANTIALLY FLAT COIL OF SPIRALLY WOUND RESISTANCE WIRE POSITIONED IN SAID CUP WITH THE OUTER EDGES OF THE CONVOLUTIONS OF THE COIL EXPOSED FOR ENGAGEMENT WITH A CIGAR OR CIGARETTE, SAID COIL HAVING AN OUTER END SECURED TO THE INNER SURFACE OF THE FLANGE OF THE CUP, A POST LOCATED CENTRALLY IN SAID CUP AND HAVING AN OUTER END SECURED TO THE INNER END OF THE RESISTANCE WIRE AND ADAPTED TO CONDUCT CURRENT THEREBETWEEN, AND A DISK HAVING AN APERTURE INTO WHICH SAID POST EXTENDS INTERPOSED BETWEEN THE BOTTOM OF THE CUP AND THE INNER EDGES OF THE CONVOLUTIONS OF THE RESISTANCE WIRE TO ENGAGE AND SUPPORT THE COIL FLATWISE, SAID DISK HAVING SUFFICIENT THICKNESS TO POSITION THE OUTER EDGES OF SUBSTANTIALLY ALL OF THE SPIRAL COIL CONVOLUTIONS OUTWARDLY FROM AND IN A PLANE SUBSTANTIALLY SPACED FROM THE OUTER END OF THE POST TO WHICH THE INNER END OF THE RESISTANCE WIRE IS SECURED, WHEREBY THE OUTER END OF THE POST AND THE INNER END OF THE COIL ARE RECESSED SUBSTANTIALLY BELOW THE PLANE OF THE OUTER EDGES. 